Sun | Oct 1, 2023

Archbishop of Canterbury urges Anglican Church of Uganda to reject anti-homosexuality law

Published:Friday | June 9, 2023 | 2:51 PM
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby delivers his speech at a interreligious meeting in Rome on October 6, 2021. The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican Church of Uganda to reject the country’s new anti-homosexuality law, saying its support for the legislation was a “fundamental departure” from the global Anglican movement’s commitment to protect the dignity of all people. Archbishop Justin Welby, spiritual leader of worldwide Anglican Communion, said Friday, June 9, 2023, that he had written to Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba to express his “grief and dismay” over the Ugandan church’s position on the law.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

LONDON (AP) — The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican Church of Uganda to reject the country's new anti-homosexuality law, saying its support for the legislation was a “fundamental departure” from the global Anglican movement's commitment to protect the dignity of all people.

Archbishop Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, said Friday that he had written to Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba to express his “grief and dismay” over the Ugandan church's position on the law.

“Supporting such legislation is a fundamental departure from our commitment to uphold the freedom and dignity of all people,” Welby said in a statement.

“There is no justification for any province of the Anglican Communion to support such laws: not in our resolutions, not in our teachings, and not in the Gospel we share.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni late last month signed legislation that includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as sexual relations involving people infected with HIV.

Those convicted of “promoting” homosexuality, a broad category covering everyone from journalists to human rights campaigners, face up to 20 years in prison.

While Welby joined world leaders such as United States President Joe Biden and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in opposing the legislation, his intervention highlights deep divisions within the global Anglican movement over its teachings on marriage and sexuality.

Many Anglican leaders in the Southern Hemisphere continue to teach that homosexuality is “contrary to God's design” and oppose moves to recognise same-sex marriage.

That has created tensions with more liberal churches in Europe and North America.

The Anglican Communion is the umbrella organisation for 46 autonomous churches that trace their roots to the Church of England, a Protestant denomination that split from the Catholic Church in the 16th century.

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